（Singapore, May 8, 2026）Bank of America convened its annual Breakthrough Technology Dialogue in Singapore on April 28, bringing together global leaders from technology, industry and academia to explore how emerging technologies are reshaping business, industries and society.
The forum, now in its fifth year, serves as an important platform connecting innovators, business leaders, investors, scientists and academics to discuss the evolution of breakthrough technologies and their broader implications. After its expansion into Asia Pacific last year, Singapore was once again selected as the host city, underlining the region’s growing significance in the global innovation landscape.
Bernard Mensah, President of International at Bank of America, said that new technologies are constantly redefining the boundaries of what is possible. But beyond the technologies themselves, what matters most is creating a high-quality forum where leaders from different sectors can exchange perspectives and form more forward-looking judgments through meaningful dialogue.
Asia Pacific is increasingly becoming a critical region for the development and deployment of breakthrough technologies. With strong research capabilities, advanced manufacturing ecosystems and expanding digital infrastructure, the region has built a comprehensive innovation ecosystem.
Particularly in areas such as artificial intelligence deployment, quantum computing research and new energy commercialization, Asia’s pace of advancement is outpacing parts of Europe and the United States.
Bank of America itself continues to deepen its technology investments. The bank currently spends US$13.5 billion annually on technology, with more than US$4 billion allocated to new initiatives, including artificial intelligence applications.
The bank believes that as global capital increasingly turns its focus toward Asia, while technology innovation may originate in places like Silicon Valley, large-scale application and commercialization are increasingly likely to happen first in Asia.
On April 30, Bank of America also officially opened its new Malaysian office at Merdeka 118 in Kuala Lumpur, further strengthening its long-term commitment to Southeast Asia.
The inauguration ceremony was attended by Bernard Mensah, Jin Su, and Gautam Puntambekar, among other senior executives.
From hosting strategic technology dialogues to expanding its regional footprint, Bank of America is sending a clear signal: the future of financial competition will no longer be defined solely by capital scale, but increasingly by technological understanding, industrial connectivity and regional positioning.
In the midst of this global technological transformation, Asia Pacific — particularly Southeast Asia — is rapidly shifting from being merely a market to becoming a strategic center of innovation and deployment.
